by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Feb 10, 2023 | Evangelium
SATURday 11 febRuary
Our Lady of Lourdes
In 1858 the Immaculate Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, near Lourdes in France, in the cavern called “de Massabielle.” Through her, Mary calls on sinners to change their lives.
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 94: 6-7
O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God who made us, for he is the Lord our God.
Collect
Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Genesis 3:9-24
The Lord God called to the man. “Where are you?” he asked. “I heard the sound of you in the garden,” he replied. “I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” “Who told you that you were naked?” he asked. “Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman replied, “The serpent tempted me and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life. I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel. To the woman he said: “I will multiply your pains in childbearing, you shall give birth to your children in pain. Your yearning shall be for your husband, yet he will lord it over you.” To the man he said, “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, accursed be the soil because of you. With suffering shall you get your food from it every day of your life. It shall yield you brambles and thistles, and you shall eat wild plants. With sweat on your brow shall you eat your bread, until you return to the soil, as you were taken from it. For dust you are and to dust you shall return.” The man named his wife “Eve” because she was the mother of all those who live. The Lord God made clothes out of skins for the man and his wife, and they put them on. Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, with his knowledge of good and evil. He must not be allowed to stretch his hand out next and pick from the tree of life also, and eat some and live forever.” So the Lord God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the cherubs, and the flame of a flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Psalm 89:2-6,12-13
R/ O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.
Before the mountains were born or the earth or the world brought forth, you are God, without beginning or end.
You turn men back to dust and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’ To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone, no more than a watch in the night.
You sweep men away like a dream, like the grass which springs up in the morning. In the morning it springs up and flowers: by evening it withers and fades.
Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart. Lord, relent! Is your anger forever? Show pity to your servants.
Gospel Acclamation: Mt 4: 4
Alleluia, alleluia! Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 8: 1-10
A great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, “I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. If I send them off home hungry, they will collapse on the way; some have come a great distance.” His disciples replied, “Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?” He asked them, “How many loaves have you?” “Seven”, they said. Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them among the crowd. They had a few small fish as well, and over these he said a blessing and ordered them to be distributed also. They ate as much as they wanted, and they collected seven basketfuls of the scraps left over. Now there had been about four thousand people. He sent them away and immediately, getting into the boat with his disciples, went to the region of Dalmanutha.
Prayer over the Offerings
O Lord, our God, who once established these created things to sustain us in our frailty, grant, we pray, that they may become for us now the Sacrament of eternal life. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 106: 8-9
Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, his wonders for the children of men, for he satisfies the thirsty soul, and the hungry he fills with good things.
Prayer after Communion
O God, who have willed that we be partakers in the one Bread and the one Chalice, grant us, we pray, so to live that, made one in Christ, we may joyfully bear fruit for the salvation of the world. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The words of Jesus: “I feel sorry for all these people”, is a reminder that God is a God of Love who wants our health and wholeness. God wants the best for us. In Jesus is revealed a loving God who has pity on us and desires us to be nourished and cared for. Jesus provides bread in abundance for the hungry crowd who seek him. He does not care where they come from. He portrays a fatherly and shepherding heart for the harassed and dejected sheep without a shepherd. In effect, God gives us more abundantly than we deserve, than we can ask for or even imagine.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Feb 9, 2023 | Agenda Biblique
vendredi 10 FEVRIER
SAINTE Scholastique, Vierge
Sœur de S. Benoît, Scholastique (vers 480-547) se consacra à Dieu comme son frère, en devenant moniale. Saint Grégoire le Grand a raconté le dernier entretien de ces deux contemplatifs, entretien qu’un orage, obtenu par la prière de Scholastique, força Benoît à prolonger toute la nuit. ‘’Plus grande était sa puissance, dit S. Grégoire, parce que son amour était plus grand’’.
Antienne d’ouverture : Ps 94, 6-7 1
Venez, inclinez-vous, prosternez-vous : adorons le Seigneur qui nous a faits : oui, il est notre Dieu.
Prière d’ouverture
Dans ton amour inlassable, Seigneur, veille sur ta famille; Et puisque ta grâce est notre unique espoir, garde nous sous ta constante protection. Par Jésus.
1ère lecture : Gn 3, 1-8
Le serpent était le plus rusé de tous les animaux des champs que le Seigneur Dieu avait faits.
Il dit à la femme : « Alors, Dieu vous a vraiment dit : “Vous ne mangerez d’aucun arbre du jardin” » La femme répondit au serpent : « Nous mangeons les fruits des arbres du jardin. Mais, pour le fruit de l’arbre qui est au milieu du jardin, Dieu a dit : “Vous n’en mangerez pas, vous n’y toucherez pas, sinon vous mourrez.” » Le serpent dit à la femme : « Pas du tout! Vous ne mourrez pas ! Mais Dieu sait que, le jour où vous en mangerez, vos yeux s’ouvriront, et vous serez comme des dieux, connaissant le bien et le mal. » La femme s’aperçut que le fruit de l’arbre devait être savoureux, qu’il était agréable à regarder et qu’il était désirable, cet arbre, puisqu’il donnait l’intelligence. Elle prit de son fruit, et en mangea. Elle en donna aussi à son mari, et il en mangea. Alors leurs yeux à tous deux s’ouvrirent et ils se rendirent compte qu’ils étaient nus. Ils attachèrent les unes aux autres des feuilles de figuier, et ils s’en firent des pagnes. Ils entendirent la voix du Seigneur Dieu qui se promenait dans le jardin à la brise du jour. L’homme et sa femme allèrent se cacher aux regards du Seigneur Dieu parmi les arbres du jardin.
Psaume : 32, 1-2, 5cdef, 6-7
R/ Heureux l’homme dont la faute est enlevée !
Heureux l’homme dont la faute est enlevée, et le péché remis! Heureux l’homme dont le Seigneur ne retient pas l’offense, dont l’esprit est sans fraude !
J’ai dit : « Je rendrai grâce au Seigneur en confessant mes péchés. » Et toi, tu as enlevé l’offense de ma faute.
Ainsi chacun des tiens te priera aux heures décisives ; même les eaux qui débordent ne peuvent l’atteindre. Tu es un refuge pour moi, mon abri dans la détresse ; de chants de délivrance, tu m’as entouré.
Acclamation
Alléluia, alléluia ! Seigneur, ouvre notre cœur pour nous rendre attentifs aux paroles de ton Fils Alléluia. (cf. Ac 16, 14b)
Évangile : Mc 7, 31-37
En ce temps-là, Jésus quitta le territoire de Tyr ; passant par Sidon, il prit la direction de la mer de Galilée et alla en plein territoire de la Décapole. Des gens lui amènent un sourd qui avait aussi de la difficulté à parler, et supplient Jésus de poser la main sur lui. Jésus l’emmena à l’écart, loin de la foule, lui mit les doigts dans les oreilles, et, avec sa salive, lui toucha la langue. Puis, les yeux levés au ciel, il soupira et lui dit : « Effata ! », c’est-à-dire : « Ouvre-toi ! » Ses oreilles s’ouvrirent ; sa langue se délia, et il parlait correctement. Alors Jésus leur ordonna de n’en rien dire à personne ; mais plus il leur donnait cet ordre, plus ceux-ci le proclamaient. Extrêmement frappés, ils disaient : « Il a bien fait toutes choses : il fait entendre les sourds et parler les muets.
Prière sur les offrandes
Seigneur notre Dieu, tu as voulu choisir dans ta création le pain et le vin qui refont chaque jour nos forces : Fais qu’ils deviennent aussi pour nous le sacrement de la vie éternelle. Par Jésus.
Antienne de la communion
Proclamons l’amour du Seigneur, ses merveilles pour les hommes : Il a rassasié ceux qui avaient faim, et désaltéré ceux qui avaient soif.
Prière après la communion
Tu as voulu, Seigneur, que nous partagions un même pain et que nous buvions à la même coupe: Accorde-nous de vivre tellement unis dans le Christ que nous portions du fruit pour le salut du monde. Par Jésus.
Méditation
Tout comme les autres déficiences avec lesquels l’homme peut naître, la surdité et le mutisme dont est frappé cet homme qu’on amène à Jésus dans l’évangile sont des désordres que le péché de l’homme a fait advenir, en corrompant la nature faite originellement bonne par Dieu. Comme on le voit avec Adam et Ève, le péché fait se dérober avec honte de Dieu, et de son semblable, tout comme il crée la disharmonie et rompt les liens entre : Dieu et l’homme ; l’homme et son semblable ; l’homme et la nature. Il naît quand on écoute les suggestions de désobéissance à l’ordre établi par Dieu que fait le Tentateur dans nos cœurs, mauvais et rusé tel un serpent. Seules, la parole de Jésus et l’action de sa grâce peuvent nous libérer du péché et de ses effets néfastes. Effata ! Ouvre-toi! Ouvrons-nous donc à sa parole et à l’action en nous de sa grâce, pour en être délivrés. C’est bien lui qui nous recréera, sous le mode de la grâce.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Feb 9, 2023 | Evangelium
FRIday 10 febRuary
SAINT Scholastica
She was born in Nursia in about 480, the twin sister of St Benedict. She was dedicated to God from an early age and followed her brother to Cassino, where she died in about 547.
Entrance Antiphon
Here is a wise virgin, from among the number of the prudent, who went forth with lighted lamp to meet Christ.
Collect
As we celebrate anew the Memorial of the Virgin St. Scholastica, we pray, O Lord, that, following her example, we may serve you with pure love and happily receive what comes from loving you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Genesis 3: 1-8
The serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. It asked the woman, “Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths. The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Psalm 31: 1-2, 5-7
R/ Happy the man whose offence is forgiven.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven, whose sin is remitted. O happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no guile.
But now I have acknowledged my sins; my guilt I did not hide. I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’ And you, Lord, have forgiven the guilt of my sin.
So let every good man pray to you in the time of need. The floods of water may reach high
but him they shall not reach.
You are my hiding place, O Lord; you save me from distress. You surround me with cries of deliverance.
Gospel Acclamation: cf. Jn 6: 63, 68
Alleluia, alleluia! Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 7: 31-37
Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, “Ephphatha”, that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. “He has done all things well,” they said. “He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”
Prayer over the Offerings
As we proclaim your wonders, O Lord, in the Virgin, Blessed Scholastica, we humbly implore your majesty, that, as her merits are pleasing to you, so, too, our dutiful service may find favour in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Mt 25: 6
Behold, the Bridegroom is coming; come out to meet Christ the Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Renewed by partaking of this divine gift, we pray, O Lord our God, that by the example of the Blessed Scholastica, bearing in our body the Death of Jesus, we may strive to hold fast to you alone. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be lured by the half-truths of Satan, to gain knowledge that exposed their nakedness and made them afraid of God. They try to hide from God, losing paradise with the certainty of dying. But Jesus brings a paradise gained. The man cured of deafness and dumbness tosses embarrassment to the wind. He goes dancing, singing, leaping, shouting and proclaiming the Good News. In Adam and Eve, we lose paradise and our will, but here comes someone who does all things right and makes us hopefully re-enter the paradise once lost. So while we are encouraged to have a sense of gratitude to God, the source of all our good, we are also reminded that the word of Jesus and the action of his grace can free us from sin and its harmful effects. Ephphata! Open up! Let us open ourselves to his word and his grace.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Feb 8, 2023 | Agenda Biblique
jeudi 09 FEVRIER
SAINT Apolline
Martyre à Alexandrie, elle refusa de renier la foi et se jeta elle-même dans le bûcher qui avait été préparé pour elle.
Antienne d’ouverture : Ps 94, 6-7
Venez, inclinez-vous, prosternez-vous : adorons le Seigneur qui nous a faits : oui, il est notre Dieu.
Prière d’ouverture
Dans ton amour inlassable, Seigneur, veille sur ta famille; Et puisque ta grâce est notre unique espoir, garde-nous sous ta constante protection. Par Jésus.
1ère lecture : Gn 2, 18-25
Lecture du livre de la Genèse Le Seigneur Dieu dit : « Il n’est pas bon que l’homme soit seul. Je vais lui faire une aide qui lui correspondra. » Avec de la terre, le Seigneur Dieu modela toutes les bêtes des champs et tous les oiseaux du ciel, et il les amena vers l’homme pour voir quels noms il leur donnerait. C’étaient des êtres vivants, et l’homme donna un nom à chacun. L’homme donna donc leurs noms à tous les animaux, aux oiseaux du ciel et à toutes les bêtes des champs. Mais il ne trouva aucune aide qui lui corresponde. Alors le Seigneur Dieu fit tomber sur lui un sommeil mystérieux, et l’homme s’endormit. Le Seigneur Dieu prit une de ses côtes, puis il referma la chair à sa place. Avec la côte qu’il avait prise à l’homme, il façonna une femme et il l’amena vers l’homme. L’homme dit alors: « Cette fois-ci, voilà l’os de mes os et la chair de ma chair! On l’appellera femme – Ishsha –, elle qui fut tirée de l’homme – Ish. » À cause de cela, l’homme quittera son père et sa mère, il s’attachera à sa femme, et tous deux ne feront plus qu’un. Tous les deux, l’homme et sa femme, étaient nus, et ils n’en éprouvaient aucune honte l’un devant l’autre.
Psaume : 127 (128), 1-2, 3, 4-5
R/ Heureux qui craint le Seigneur !
Heureux qui craint le Seigneur et marche selon ses voies ! Tu te nourriras du travail de tes mains : Heureux es-tu ! À toi, le bonheur !
Ta femme sera dans ta maison comme une vigne généreuse, et tes fils, autour de la table, comme des plants d’olivier.
Voilà comment sera béni l’homme qui craint le Seigneur. De Sion, que le Seigneur te bénisse ! Tu verras le bonheur de Jérusalem tous les jours de ta vie
Acclamation
Alléluia, alléluia ! Accueillez dans la douceur la Parole semée en nous : c’est elle qui peut vous sauver. Alléluia. (cf. Jc 1, 21bc)
Évangile : Mc 7, 24-30
En ce temps-là, Jésus partit et se rendit dans le territoire de Tyr. Il était entré dans une maison, et il ne voulait pas qu’on le sache, mais il ne put rester inaperçu : une femme entendit aussitôt parler de lui ; elle avait une petite fille possédée par un esprit impur; elle vint se jeter à ses pieds. Cette femme était païenne, syro-phénicienne de naissance, et elle lui demandait d’expulser le démon hors de sa fille. Il lui disait: « Laisse d’abord les enfants se rassasier, car il n’est pas bien de prendre le pain des enfants et de le jeter aux petits chiens. » Mais elle lui répliqua : « Seigneur, les petits chiens, sous la table, mangent bien les miettes des petits enfants ! » Alors il lui dit: « À cause de cette parole, va : le démon est sorti de ta fille. » Elle rentra à la maison, et elle trouva l’enfant étendue sur le lit : le démon était sorti d’elle.
Prière sur les offrandes
Seigneur notre Dieu, tu as voulu choisir dans ta création le pain et le vin qui refont chaque jour nos forces: Fais qu’ils deviennent aussi pour nous le sacrement de la vie éternelle. Par Jésus.
Antienne de la communion : Ps 106, 8-9
Proclamons l’amour du Seigneur, ses merveilles pour les hommes: Il a rassasié ceux qui avaient faim, et désaltéré ceux qui avaient soif.
Prière après la communion
Tu as voulu, Seigneur, que nous partagions un même pain et que nous buvions à la même coupe: Accorde-nous de vivre tellement unis dans le Christ que nous portions du fruit pour le salut du monde. Par Jésus.
Méditation
De la côte de l’homme, Dieu a créé la femme bonne, de la même nature humaine que lui, afin que de son côté et à ses côtés comme alliée et vis-à-vis, elle soit sa côte ou son soutien. D’ailleurs la femme sait souvent faire montre d’une grande foi en le Seigneur, comme en fît montre cette femme païenne dont Jésus accède à la demande de délivrance pour sa fille. Sa foi, c’est-à-dire sa confiance inébranlable en la bonté du Seigneur, et plus encore sa très grande humilité, avaient fait céder le Christ. Elle se savait aussi indigne que le Seigneur lui fasse grâce. Mais elle était convaincue que toujours le Seigneur fait grâce, d’une manière ou d’une autre, comme on fait grâce aux petits chiens des miettes de pain. Puissions-nous prier et supplier le Seigneur avec les mêmes sentiments.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Feb 8, 2023 | Evangelium
Thursday 09 febRuary
SAINT TEILO
Teilo lived in the sixth century as a monk, with St David at Mynyw. He founded his own monastery at Llandeilo Fawr where he died. At Llandaff he is venerated as founder of the See.
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 94: 6-7
O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God who made us, for he is the Lord our God.
Collect
Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Genesis 2:18-25
The Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.” So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed: “This at last is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh! This is to be called woman, for this was taken from man.” This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body. Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame in front of each other.
Psalm 127:1-5
R/ O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways! By the labour of your hands you shall eat. You will be happy and prosper.
Your wife like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house; your children like shoots of the olive, around your table.
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
Gospel Acclamation: Ps144:13
Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 7: 24-30
Jesus left Gennesaret and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not pass unrecognised. A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him straightaway and came and fell at his feet. Now the woman was a pagan, by birth a Syrophoenician, and she begged him to cast the devil out of her daughter. And he said to her, ‘The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ But she spoke up: ‘Ah yes, sir,’ she replied ‘but the house-dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps.’ And he said to her, ‘For saying this, you may go home happy: the devil has gone out of your daughter.’ So she went off to her home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil gone.
Prayer over the Offerings
O Lord, our God, who once established these created things to sustain us in our frailty, grant, we pray, that they may become for us now the Sacrament of eternal life. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 106: 8-9
Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, his wonders for the children of men, for he satisfies the thirsty soul, and the hungry he fills with good things.
Prayer after Communion
O God, who have willed that we be partakers in the one Bread and the one Chalice, grant us, we pray, so to live that, made one in Christ, we may joyfully bear fruit for the salvation of the world. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
See the mother pleading with Jesus! Great faith of a Greek woman – a total pagan and stranger to the ways and customs of those around her. But because of her faith, Jesus paid heed to her needs. The demons depart from her daughter, and the latter is well again… Faith! Yes, faith! Convincing and unwavering, unintimidated and unashamed. She is belittled, but she knows in whom she has put her trust. Jesus praises the woman for her persistent faith and affectionate love. No one whoever sought Jesus with confidence, whether Jew or Gentile, was denied his help. Your story will not be different, so come to Him and be satisfied.
